- The House voted 222-186 to table the resolution, meaning there will be no final vote on her censure
- Greene’s resolution accused Tlaib of “anti-Semitic activity” and “leading an insurrection” after she spoke at a Capitol Hill protest last week
A resolution to censure Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib was killed after 23 Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it over free speech concerns.
The House voted 222-186 to table the resolution, meaning there will be no final vote on her censure.
The Republicans who sided with the Democrats came from across the conference, from Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Roy to Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman and Republican Rep. Ken Buck from Colorado.
Greene’s resolution accused Tlaib of “anti-Semitic activity” and “leading an insurrection” after she spoke last week at a protest on Capitol Hill by advocates demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
After the October 18 protest, Capitol Police estimated that about 300 protesters were arrested, as protests are not allowed in House office buildings, and three were charged with assault on an officer.
Greene cited a number of statements that Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, has made in support of the Palestinians and against Israel.
“Tlaib should be censored for her radical support of Hamas terrorists and hatred of our ally Israel,” Greene wrote on Twitter.
Tlaib said in a statement that Greene’s “unhinged resolution is deeply Islamophobic and attacks peaceful Jewish anti-war advocates.”
After Greene introduced her resolution, Democratic Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont introduced one to censure the Georgia Republican, accusing her of making racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic statements and airing conspiracies.
Since the resolution to censure Tlaib was introduced, Balint withdrew her resolution to censure Greene.
Democrat Jim Himes of Connecticut voted to introduce both the Tlaib and Greene resolutions, citing freedom of speech.
“Freedom of expression, no matter how unpopular, should not be censored or officially sanctioned.”
In an MSNBC op-ed supporting her resolution, Balint referenced a 2019 video in which she claimed that Muslim members of Congress were “not really” official because they had not taken an oath to the Bible. She also referenced Greene calling her Muslim progressive colleagues the “Jihad Squad.”
Her resolution notes that Greene has compared Covid-19 restrictions to the Holocaust and appeared at a white nationalist event in February 2022.
She is also noted to have called President Joe Biden a “Nazi” and referred to Asian-Americans “yellow people,” among other controversial statements.